


the bruises, the emptiness, and the quiet

by fallingwish



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 19:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18556273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingwish/pseuds/fallingwish
Summary: in the aftermath, Usopp and Merry stand together and mourn the splitting of the crew----post- the Usopp v Luffy fight in Water 7





	the bruises, the emptiness, and the quiet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [grainjew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/grainjew/gifts).



> dedicated to grainjew, because zeph has written 24 fics for one piece since i introduced them to it, and i am always inspired by them

The ship is larger than Usopp remembers.

Merry is, by definition, not a large ship. She is small, and comfortable, originally designed just for Kaya and whoever else she may have decided to bring with her. In the early days of their journey out onto sea, the ship had never seemed to have enough room for all four of them; when they were joined by Sanji, by Chopper, by Robin, all on Luffy’s whims, the ship had only felt smaller and smaller. Merry had looked minuscule compared to some of the other ships they had encountered — next to the Dreadnaught Sabre, next to the Ark Maxim, next to the Foxy, she was just a small caravel against the world. 

But now, with only Usopp standing on Merry’s deck, rain falling onto them both as the storm around them rumbles, she seems much, much larger and much, much quieter than he remembers.

Before, just yesterday, even just a few hours ago, there was always noise, always something happening, always someone moving; in the times when the ship _was_ quiet, its residents either away or asleep, there was always the promise, the knowledge, of the rest of the crew coming back.

There is no such promise now. The bruises on Usopp’s face and arms and chest and heart are proof of that. The rain gathering in pools along the deck, running down Merry’s figurehead undisturbed, is even more proof of that.

It doesn’t matter though — not the bruises, not the emptiness, not the quiet. It’s better for Merry this way. Usopp looks around the ship, at the broken railings, at the hastily repaired tiller, at the magically fixed mast, and sees every injury on Merry reflected in his own bruises, feels every broken part ache in his body. How long will it take him to fix that broken railing? How long will it take for his broken bones to heal?

How long will it take for his heart to stop aching?

The others don’t care about Merry. They don’t feel for this ship, don’t care that she’s brought them through the seas as far as she has already, don’t care about letting her see their journey through to the end, of bringing her with them to find the One Piece. A means to an end; that’s what they had seen her as. Just something to use until they could get something better. He remembers Luffy ripping her mast away from her body in order to make a point with a whale (a _whale_!). He remembers Luffy flipping through the catalogue, that smile on his face, after declaring the end of Merry’s journey. He remembers hearing that voice through the fog during their detour to Skypeia, and finding the ship completely repaired the next day, and knowing, without a doubt, that she would be okay, and clenches his hands.

The others don’t care about Merry.

After all this time, Usopp’s the only one who does.

They had embarked on the seas together — was it so selfish to want them to end their journey together as well?

He heaves a sigh, looks towards the sheep figurehead, and gives it a shaky smile. “Let’s get you fixed up, alright, Merry?”

He waits a beat, in case Merry decides to answer, but the only thing he hears is the pitter patter of rain against her deck, and the howl of the wind.


End file.
